


AI - Angel Interface

by Ahrro



Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Borderlands AU, Forced pain, Jack's a Dick, Lots of sex tags that I'll update as they appear in the story, M/M, Rhys as Jack's PA, non-romantic beginning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-05-19 17:56:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5976030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ahrro/pseuds/Ahrro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhys is up to his eyes in debt for the ECHO eye implant and mech arm he got. With no other options, he signs up for a Debt Resolution program to help mitigate the financial damage. Unfortunately the whole process involved with getting the implant is a setup by Handsome Jack who specifically needs a PA that has an ECHO eye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Down the rabbit hole

Rhys stood fidgeting in front of the long desk, occasionally eying the brunette girl seated on the other side as she shuffled around papers, and signed various forms. 

"So," he paused to check her nametag. "Meg. How many other people were rushing to sign up for this?"

She kept writing for a moment, ignoring his question, before turning up to look at him. Her honey-brown eyes caught his and she smiled sweetly. "You were the first."

His stomach dropped. "O-oh?" he stammered. "I would'a thought people would be swarming at the opportunity."

Casting her face slightly downward, but still looking at him, her smile had a hint of humor in it. "You handed in your application two hours after it was announced. Most everyone else was finishing up first shifts or on their mid-shift."

"Right, well, second shift and all," he dismissed the conversation awkwardly, turning away from the expansive desk. 

He began thinking about the odd ritual surrounding shifts at Hyperion. Everyone wanted either a first shift or mid-shift, but since most of Hyperion was flooded in artificial sunlight to simulate proper day light rotations that were maintained regardless of the space station's location relative to the sun, it didn't actually matter. 'Night' in Hyperion left the station washed in a pale, soft light to emulate a full moon, but it was plenty of light to make your way from place to place. Rhys even found the evening light more calming than the bright light of 'daytime'.

Second shift gave him free roam of the places he frequented without having to deal with most of the other employees. While he enjoyed the cut-throat banter and the challenge of vaguely hostile interactions with others that shared a similar position in the company, he greatly relished that when he wasn't on the clock he was able to avoid it almost entirely.

"Well," she started, glancing at the papers in front of her. "'Rhys', you're all set up. Follow the hallway into the main office and your debt resolution program will be initiated."

A small wave of relief shivered through him. He'd soon be in the clear. On his way to fully harness the potential of his augmentation without the crippling debt that had accompanied acquiring it.

He offered Meg what he hoped was a suave smile, and sauntered confidently down the hallway. His steps led him into a room that suddenly yawned open before him. The expanse was startlingly barren. It was very industrial looking except for a few isolated sitting areas that contrastingly looked very inviting.

Enormous windows towered over the room on the far wall that stared down Elpis. A large desk was set just before the view that was positioned up on a raised platform, overseeing the rest of the room.

Rhys walked in, his saunter gone as he glanced hesitantly around. He looked for someone that was awaiting his arrival, that was going to greet him and get the program started. He saw no one but the Hyperion President himself reclined back in his Hyperion Yellow throne-like office chair. His feet were hitched up on the edge of his desk, and his hands were clasped behind his head, and he made no effort to hide that he was observing the stranger that just entered his office.

Caught in the spotlight, Rhys stopped walking forward, gauging what he should do. When Handsome Jack made no movement, he kept moving forward, towards the desk's platform.

A few feet away and slowing his stride as he closed the remaining space to the front of the desk, he cleared his throat as quietly as he could, to clear the knot that had formed.

"I uh--I'm here because I got accepted into the debt resolution program?"

His nerves felt like they were twisted and coiled. The last thing he had expected was to meet Jack during the program. He thought it was slightly odd that he was going into the man's office, but thought it might just be a formal thing where they'd begin the initial overview of the program in one of the private conference rooms that were attached to the office, and proceed with the course in private. 

The program coordinator must be running late. And now here he was, stuck alone with Jack waiting for someone else to arrive in who knows how long.

Jack pushed back from the desk with his feet and stood up from his chair, keeping his eyes on Rhys. The man's face was neutral, if not slightly intrigued by the intruder. It gave Rhys nothing to go on, as far as whether he was stepping over some boundaries by approaching the desk and announcing his purpose.

He knew by reputation that as wonderful as Handsome Jack is, his viscousness equaled it. And as much respect and admiration as Rhys felt for him, he knew that all exchanges with the man were tread on thin ice. He would be no exception. His luck, he had already done something wrong and he'd be jettisoned out of the airlock.

Handsome Jack walked towards Rhys, who cast his eyes downward at the approach.

Now standing nearly only a foot away, Rhys couldn't help but nervously glance up at the person who stood confidently before him.

Rhys knew that propaganda about Jack was often over exaggerated, and photo's taken to show only the best of his appearance. Statues that made the man look like a God, and all that. Rhys knew that heroic and high-power figures never live up to the hype and expectation around their image that promotional media enforces. But standing in front of him now, Jack was a very well-built man.

Where Rhys was average height and slightly scrawny, spending his time managing programs and operations for work, and spending much of his free-time lounging and tinkering with his ECHO devices, Jack instead was a good few inches taller than Rhys, with broad shoulders and a tapered torso. Despite the layers that Jack favored to wear, the firm structure of his body could be easily interpreted beneath the clothing.

Lean, defined forearms crossed themselves over his chest, as Jack continued one last moment of observation on Rhys. It took every ounce of balls he had to not take a step back from the intensity of Jack's proximity and the intimidation of his presence so up-close.

"Well congrats then, kiddo. Bet you'll be surprised to hear that I'm actually overseeing the program." Jack announced with a smirk.

Rhys met Jack's eyes for a moment, unable to hide the surprise that he did indeed feel. Why would Jack oversee something like this? It's so far beneath him, he thought with confusion.

"So I've been advised that I should guide you through this program slowly--make sure that you're comfortable with the process and everything to do with it as to not cause a total freak-out regarding it. But honestly I don't think I'm going to do that," Jack said, taking a step back from Rhys, much to his relief. "What's your name?"

"Rhys," he replied, cautiously eyeing the man and figuring out what to make of the start of his speech.

"Rhysie, you want me to be completely honest with you right?" Though worded as a question, Jack's tone left no doubt that the expected, and probably required answer, was yes.

Forcing himself to ignore the less than desirable sudden nickname, hoping it was a one-time thing, he replied hesitantly. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Great! That's just what I wanted to hear. Buckle up baby," he started with a chuckle. He took a large step forward towards Rhys, and threw an arm around his shoulder, holding Rhys tight against his side. Suddenly his stomach felt tight, and he became entirely too aware that this was little to no space between them. He couldn't help that his nerves were suddenly performing acrobatic loops throughout his body. The grip on his shoulder was tighter than it really needed to be--when Rhys realized it was more of a warning than anything else. He swallowed.

"So the cold truth is that you're here because you went through Hyperion's loan services to get your ECHO eye installed and that mechanical arm of yours."

Rhys looked sideways at Jack, who just looked down at him. Jack was closer than Rhys had ever imagined the man being. And far more suddenly. Pulled right into his side, Rhys could feel the contours of the clothing Jack wore, pressed through his own, and the body heat emanating from him. The man's face was only several inches from his own as he looked down at Rhys with the never-wavering confidence of a man who owned the world.

The intimidation that rolled off of the CEO left Rhys feeling incredibly claustrophobic and very nearly scared. In a startling moment of clarity, he realized that was the intent.

"Right," Rhys choked out, his voice cracking on the vowel. He shut his eyes tight and tried to take a calming breath. It's affect was negotiable. "I wanted to improve my productivity in my industry of the company. Get ahead of the others. I've had a few lucky streaks, but I knew the processing power of an ECHO eye unit would be invaluable."

"Well I gotta ask you, how many other people have you seen with ECHO eyes?"

The question made Rhys pause his current thoughts, to ponder the question posed. "None," he said simply. He knew that the ECHO implants where unreasonably expensive, but that comes with the latest most innovative technology. Rhys was lucky enough to apply for a grant and loan combination through accounting and get accepted. He wasn't aware of anyone else that managed to make the cut for that financing opportunity. Most other people would pale at the numbers, anyways, and brush it off as unobtainable. Not Rhys though--he pursued it anyways. And it paid off--until recently at least.

"Yeah, there's actually a reason for that, and I don't think it's what you thought it was," Jack said as he starts to lead Rhys down the platform to one of the sitting areas off to the side of the cavernous office.

"You see, although we had hundreds of applicants that 'managed to get accepted for a grant'--which, by the way, there's a funny story right there with that-- you're the only one that survived the procedure. Yeah, the grant thing? Never existed. Not *actually* existed."

Rhys wasn't sure what to feel. He was feeling a moderate amount of confusion at all of this, and trepidation at the unexpected admission regarding the success rate of the procedure. Why was Jack telling him this?

Now at the lounge area, Jack kept his grip vice-tight on Rhys' shoulder as he forced him to sit beside him on a couch. Jack lounged slightly with legs spread open, and given their close proximity, Jack's right thigh pressed against Rhys' left that he kept closed and attempted to angle away from Jack's with no success.

Rhys knew exactly what Jack was doing with every intimidation movement he made--but knowing it didn't stop it from being every bit of successful. He tried shrinking down and subtly making space between himself and Jack, despite knowing that he was falling prey to Jack's tactics and doing exactly what the Hyperion President wanted him to do. The blunt admissions causing Rhys to not think clearly, Rhys already hard-coded admiration for the man, and Jack's intimidation measures were making Rhys dance right along to Jack's tune. The shame of that, just caused another compacted layer to form that cemented Jack's hold on Rhys' behavior.

"We've been waiting for someone to get the tech and--well not die. Finally you come along and we're certain you're going to die like a little pansy," Jack says with a laugh, while Rhys furrows his brow that the implied accusation. "But lo and behold you survived. You, of all the hundreds who wussed over and died. The biggest wuss of them all stands proudly alive to tell the tale."

"So it was just experimental technology?" Rhys questions, reviewing everything he read about the augment in his head. He very vividly remembers numerous statements about the success rate and how heavily tested the product was.

"Heh, yeah. One of my private HR departments spun a whole culture around this thing to make sure no one questioned the legitimacy of it. Pretty fucking brilliant."

Jack was smiling broadly, clearly proud of that accomplishment.

"Why?" Rhys asked timidly.

"Because the tech isn't just to improve work-environment productivity. It's my own baby. Your debt resolution program? The whole thing was set up from the beginning so that you'd end up bankrupt if you didn't come apply for the program--you know IF you survived. You'd be forced to sign your life away to this program, which while it actually does somewhat solve your financial problems, isn't exactly the intended purpose."

"So what's the purpose?" Rhys asked, his stomach turning over itself more with each sentence Jack said. He's being lead down a really long rabbit hole, and he's not sure he's going to like where he ends up on the other side.

Jack's lids lower, and he smiles a predatory smile towards Rhys. He pulls his arm away from around Rhys' shoulders--much to his relief. But before he can get comfortable with the renewed personal space, Jack reaches over with his left hand and grips the sides of Rhys' chin roughly, pulling his face to face him.

Rhys can't help that his cheeks flush. This whole situation was a huge emotional flip-flop rollercoaster for him. With Jack's close presence, and fingers roughly guiding the direction of his face, coupled with the unpredictability of everything that's happened thus far, a fleeting anticipation of Jack crushing his lips against his own causes him to flush brightly, ears burning hot.

Instead Jack reaches up with his other hand to the side of Rhys' face to the port at his temple, fingering the tech. It almost strikes Rhys as funny, but he's not even certain he's capable of laughter at the moment.

Jack forcible tilts Rhys' head to the side, closely observing the port, before turning his head back and staring close into the ECHO eye implant. Rhys' stomach feels like it's threatening to break through via his throat, as all he can do is sit patiently as Jack manipulates his face to scrutinize his augments.

"So now that you've basically signed yourself over to me, through that phony debt program, you're my latest pet project. I'm not gonna lie: you're going to hate it. It's going to be miserable for you, and initially...? Very painful."

Jack's admittance caused Rhys to sputter, as Jack snapped his fingers in front of his face and performed various other tests related to monitoring the response of his augmented eye.

There were too many things to concentrate on, that Rhys was finding it a sensory overload. His implant was churning out visual and database data at him with everything that Jack did. Jack's uncomfortably close proximity and his very unabashedly hands-on approach to examining his tech. His mind was trying to process the compounding awful things that Jack was willy-nilly admitting to him.

"Painful?" Rhys asked, forcing himself to stop concentrating on the visual stimulus Jack was trying to get him to focus on, and instead stared into Jack's eyes. Jack stopped his ministrations, when the concentration wavered. He tilted his head back, his face and eyes devoid of emotion, and let got of Rhys' chin.

"Yeah," he said blankly. "It's actually pretty fucking likely you won't survive the final step in the process."

The change in mood was startling and left Rhys feeling oddly chilled. He knew that Handsome Jack had temperament issues, and was often whispered about being crazy. But the dramatic shift from his almost jovial excitement and confidence to this suddenly sullen appearance was shocking. It was like watching something break--except that something was inside of a person's brain. What had caused the sudden splintering?

Jack shook his head and hung it downward for a moment, forcing a laugh. When he brought himself back facing Rhys, a cocky smile was plastered to his lips, and that cold, distant look was gone as fast as it had appeared.

"Well pumpkin, guess I'll get down to the nitty-gritty."

"All that before wasn't nitty-gritty?"

"Nah, that was just your shock therapy," Jack said with a sweeping grin, eyes slightly narrowed.

Rhys swallowed and tried to put some distance between them. Jack actually let him slide a couple of inches away, but Rhys thought to not test just how far he'd be allowed to go before he gets pulled back in and not allowed the personal space.

"You'll be getting a secondary upgrade to your ECHO eye device. The final major addition. Basically your device as it stands now is just the gateway for the final upgrade. It has everything in place that needs to be there during the surgery, and not much more. What you'll be getting installed is called AI."

"'Artificial Intelligence'?" Rhys asked, baffled.

Something flashed across Jack's features in a split second... something that made his expression waver. Rhys felt anticipation that Jack's mood would flicker back to the one from earlier, but it didn't. Instead the confident award winning smirk remained in place. "'Angel Interface'."

"So.... What is it?"

"Glad you asked! Helios was built so that absolutely every bit of its operation can be controlled from a single hub. If you're the Admin, you have access to everything. Helios being so incredibly massive has the downside of its hub being... well a lot more than a single human can administrate, or even memorize where everything is without consulting the fifty volumes of manuals. Yes, even me, Handsome Fucking Jack.

"Interfaces do an okay-job of providing access to the various functions, but even those have their own annoying challenges to get working in any sort of decent capacity.

"So what I need is an AI."

"An Angel Interface?"

"No stupid, an Artificial Intelligence," despite the insult, Jack was laughing. Rhys understood that he was intentionally put up for that, and resisted rolling his eyes. Because rolling his eyes probably WOULD get him jettisoned from Helios.

"So," Jack began again. "Turns out Artificial Intelligences can't truly exist without some organic assistance. Particularly, a developed human brain. I'll be installing the Angel Interface into your augment, which will pair with you and give you access to all of Helios. Your initial installation was a success so you're already paired with the basic functions of the interface. This last step will be installing all of the protocols for complete system access and root function. You will be host to a true AI."

"Will... Will I still be me?" He knew it sounded silly, but it needed to be asked. Was he willing to give his life away to an AI that would take his place? He didn't think so.

"No kiddo, you'll will be in control of the tech completely. It'll be your brain that's taking control of the AI, not the other way around. No need to worry on that front. I mean, that's the only reason I'm telling you all this. Otherwise I'd just cram the device in your head and not have to waste my time!"

Jack could be lying, but Rhys honestly didn't think he had a reason to lie. Like he said, he could just shove the tech into his head and let it do its thing, and be done with Rhys' hesitation entirely. And if there was one thing Rhys was certain of, it was that Jack would always do the thing most convenient for himself.

"What's my purpose then? When this gets installed."

"You'll basically become my 24-hour secretary slash interface. Aren't you lucky? There are a lot of people out there that would kill to become essentially my lapdog," Jack said with a devilish smile.

To speak honestly, Rhys was one of those people. Working for Hyperion had been a dream job for him, working for a chance at meeting THE Handsome Jack. The Jack that took over Hyperion from tyrannical (Arguably still tyrannical, but still!) hands, and took over Pandora and Elpis. Made it a somewhat organized and civilized planet to live. The man who never gave up on the planet that seemed hopeless. The man whose humble beginnings were as a lowly programmer.

He spent a whole year studying the ins and outs of Hyperion culture and career paths. He'd chosen his particular entry level position for the sole purpose of rising as fast as possible to earn a position that allowed direct business interactions with the president.

Beyond getting hired on as a secretary, there were no easy mode routes for Rhys to take. While he might not have been completely against a secretary position, the position was filled at the time of his hiring. While in the past Jack has a track record of 'firing' his secretaries every other quarter, this one had actually managed to stick for a decent amount of time. The same Meg girl who was stilling manning the position two years later. The girl had to be good.

But despite all of his action plans, and long-term commitments he'd set himself up for, he'd suddenly gotten a shortcut. The shortcut of a lifetime. You know--if he doesn't die in this last stretch. It was a bitter tasting thought, to Rhys. Was it worth it? He supposed he didn't have a say in it at this point. He doubted Jack would let his new 'pet project' go when there were currently no others eligible for the position.

"I know," Jack said in Rhys thoughtful silence. "A lot to swallow. But I'll walk you through the PA bit till you get the hang of it."

Rhys vaguely wondered how the '24-hour' bit would work out, but it was a lesser concern of his at the time, considering the impending actual upgrade that would be, quote, 'very painful'. He swallowed at the lump in his throat.

Jack grabbed Rhys' chin again to force him to meet his stare. "So pumpkin, how would you like to do it? On this couch or on the floor?"

Rhys cleared his throat before he trusted his voice to talk properly. "Couch."

Nerves were becoming jumbled again, but in a far more fearful and anxious way than before. He had no idea what to expect. "We're doing this now?" he questioned as Jack reached for something underneath the couch.

"Time is money, kiddo. I need you to start being useful sooner rather than later," Jack said with a wink.

He pulled out a suitcase and opened its latches. It clicked open, and inside sat what looked like a storage drive, encased in chrome. A thick cord extended from a port on it, that curled to a slightly oversized ECHO dock that matched all typical ECHO devices' inputs. Pulling the drive and cord out, he tossed the now empty suitcase onto the opposing couch.

Rhys wasn't entirely sure why Jack would think that this would hurt him. With all the mechanics already in place, wasn't this just a simple upload and firmware upgrade? It put his mind at ease. Jack must have just been making sure he would still be up for it, even if it meant 'horrible pain'. Which was fair, because it had made him extremely nervous.

"Lie down on your back," Jack instructed, dock poised in his right hand, drive held in his left.

Rhys obediently lied down on the wide sofa, his knees bent to keep his feet from touching Jack. Jack stood up, before throwing a leg over Rhys body to kneel on the other side. His other knee came up to rest on the bit of space still left on the cushion, so he was kneeling over Rhys.

"Legs down."

When Rhys lowered his legs flat, Jack sat down on his thighs.

"Now when I start doing this, you are absolutely NOT allowed to hit me, understand? I don't care how much it hurts. You do anything you humanly can to not hit me or kick me."

Rhys wasn't sure why Jack was still going on with the scare tactics. He had to know Rhys understood how this would work, right? Or maybe he really did assume he was that unintelligent. A disappointing thought, but he'd prove him wrong. "Understood," he said with a cocky smirk, that he hoped said 'I know you're bluffing'.

Jack cocked an eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing else. He leaned forward with the dock and tried fitting it into the port on Rhys' temple. He wriggled it around, trying various angles and amounts of force. Brow furrowed, Jack pulled the cord back and tilted Rhys' head to the side, letting the overhead lights illuminate the port.

"Well you little _shit_ ," Jack said with a legitimate laugh. "You tinkered with your Echo Port."

Rhys blanched, remembering that he had in fact altered the port and forgot to tell Handsome Jack. Shit.

"Ah, I, uh, yeah. I altered it to match all of my devices. After numerous times of coworkers pranking my devices, I changed the port around so they couldn't upload viruses to my things. I thought it would be best to do the same with a device that's wired directly to my brain...."

Jack regarded him with a look that actually seemed impressed, though primarily irritated. "Well, I think we're going to use your new arrangement later on, because you're right. I can't have someone shoving a virus into my PA that can control the entirety of Helios. But for now, it's got to be put back to normal."

"I could just re-arrange the dock of your--" Rhys began before he was interrupted.

"Nope, sorry pumpkin, can't do it with this," Jack said, climbing off of Rhys. He wanted to argue, but held his tongue. 

Jack wandered over to a doorway not far away. Opening it from a pass-coded panel on the right of the closed doors, it slid open and Jack slipped inside, door closing behind him. Rhys lied patiently, until Jack returned back through the doorway which hissed shut again behind him. Walking around the couch to where Rhys could easily see, he was carrying a small grey case, that he popped open as he approached.

Sitting back into the same position above Rhys as before, Jack pulled a couple of tools from the case and dropped the case onto the ground, kicking it under the couch. Leaning over him, he tilted Rhys head and began manipulating the plates and pins in the port. The feeling was rather uncomfortable, if only because the augmentation itself in his temple was still sensitive from the installation. Even this couldn't be considered any sort of pain. After a few minutes, Jack clicked his tongue with satisfaction and tossed the tools into the crevice of the couch, and retrieved the drive again that was resting at Rhys' feet.

"Remember what I told you?" Jack asked as if he was reminding a child to eat their veggies.

It was _really_ hard this time to not roll his eyes or say something snarky. But he knew better. "Yes."

"And try not to jerk your head and dislodge the port. If you do dislodge it while it's in the middle of the upgrade... well you know how you wanted to make sure you'd still be you? Yeah that wouldn't be the case anymore. Or you'll die. Either way it's not a good idea."

Jack eased the dock into the port this time without a hitch, and pressed a button on the over-sized body of the dock. Rhys saw a red illumination appear on Jack's hand where it held the dock in place, though he couldn't see the dock itself anymore.

Rhys' ECHO eye lid up with new data in the command prompt, as the dock began transferring files. He watched the information flash by, but it was too fast to catch anything that gave him an idea of exactly what was happening.

After a couple of minutes he saw that files were being unpackaged.

Rhys thought smugly to himself over how silly it was that Jack was still making such a scare fuss about this upgrade. He knew how tech worked, and the only part of augments that can actually hurt you is the surger--HOLY SHIT FUCK.

Blinding white hot pain surged abruptly through Rhys' skull right as the unpacking percentage reached one-hundred. He cried out at the feeling. He'd been so sure nothing would happen that he was woefully unprepared for the intensity of pain that radiated from his port, that there was no chance in hell of him stifling his cry.

Jack grabbed his jaw just as he was about to jerk his head to the side. He wanted to punch out at Jack and force the man off of him, but even through the burning pain he remembered Jack's warning. Instead he thrust out his hands and gripped the front of Jack's clothing tight

After a small beep sounded, Jack pulled the dock from Rhys' head and tossed it aside, but the pain still remained. He let go of Rhys' jaw as Rhys twisted around beneath him, but Jack's body weight kept him mostly immobilized. 

The intensity of it suddenly flared as the pain became more acute and focused, as it traveled around the various parts of the tech inside of his head. Crying out again, Rhys thrust his hips up and his fists tangled in Jack's clothing into his chest. Jack gripped Rhys' wrist as he toppled over onto the ground with a strained groan, pulling Rhys down on top of him. 

Rhys struggled with Jack's grip on him, trying to get free for a moment, before reaching up his hands to his eye implant that was now the focus of the pain. He couldn't rip out the tech from his head, but he certainly could rip out his eye implant.

"Oh no you don't," Jack said forcefully.

He grabbed Rhys' wrists and pulled them away from his face. In a quick series of motions that Rhys couldn't concentrate on, he found himself kneeling on the ground with Jack kneeling behind him, body stretched up against his backside. Jack's arms were wound around Rhys' body and had his wrists clasped tightly against his chest that was pressed solidly against the floor. His face was planted against the ground too, with the angle of his body. His port and ECHO eye facing upward as they both continued to feel like something was gouging into his flesh, but now there was nothing he could do to relieve the pain. He continued to struggle, but Jack had all of his body in a vice.

He couldn't help the cries that fled from his lips every time the sensations would move. He kept his eyes clenched shut, trying to block everything out.

In the position they were in, Jack's hips met squarely with Rhys' rear-end, and in the briefest moment of awareness of things besides the pain, Rhys could swear he felt a hardon pressed tightly against him. In an instant though, the thought was gone as the pain seared forth again, eliciting another cry from Rhys' mouth.

After several more moments of the pain not letting up in the slightest, Rhys could feel the inklings of blackness tickling his brain. Blissfully, he was passing out. His cries started to die down, as his world and the pain faded.

"Fuck," Jack exclaimed when he realized what was happening. "No you fucking don't. You don't pass out. Remember the dying thing? You _have_ to be lucid for this."

Jack wrenched Rhys' body up along with his own so Rhys was sitting in Jack's lap, back pinned against Jack's torso. His hands were still being kept still against his own chest. The blackness vaguely went away, as lucidity swam him back into the present. 

Rhys groaned out at the misery of losing his bliss, and cried again as the pain re-surged. "Can't," he whimpered pitifully, tears streaming down his face. He also felt something warm running down the side of his head, and for a moment he thought that the left side of his face was much more wet than the right. "Can't."

"Yeah you can," Jack said angrily.

"Can't...." Rhys said as he started to fade again.

"Stop that!" Jack said aggressively. He tried shaking Rhys, but it had little effect before he began blacking out again. "Shit."

Unexpectedly a new pain surged out of the dark that was enveloping him that somehow shocked him back into focus, that emanated from his neck. Jack just bit him!

"Did you...?" Rhys wasn't sure how me managed to utter the question through the pain.

"Yes, I bit you. Now wake the fuck back up."

Rhys wasn't entirely sure, but he felt that the pain was finally starting to lessen, or he was slowly dying. One of the two.

Nope. A new tidal wave of pain rushed over him, as he yelled out desperately and bucked against Jack in a last ditch effort to get away from him and have his wrists freed to yank out the implant. Then the blackness started onsetting far faster than before. He was nearly there....

Jack regained his hold on Rhys, and hauled them both up from the floor, only to hurriedly guide him against the closet wall, and push him against it.

Rhys whined as the darkness slowly began to retreat again, at being forced to stand. His hands were now being held at his sides, wrists still clasped unforgivingly in Jack's hands. With Jack pressed fully against Rhys' backside, he could very clearly identify the bulge that pressed against him. Clarity formed in his head as he couldn't help but focus on the fact that Jack's cock was fully hard and forced against him. For a brief moment the pain seemed less noticeable, when embarrassment flooded his system. His interactions with Handsome Jack had gone from 0 to Jack unintentionally grinding his dick against his ass in as little as an hour.

Somehow the reality of that kept Rhys lucid just long enough for the pain to actually begin fading away, until it was just a hazy ache. Rhys was panting with exhaustion, and during the recovery from the pain, Jack's inappropriate boner went away.

"How you doing cupcake?" Jack whispered in his ear. It sent a chill down Rhys' spine, feeling Jack's breath ghost across the shell of his ear. It made him remember the bite just a couple inches lower.

"Okay, I think. I think it's over," Rhys breathed, barely able to speak.

"You did good, kid," Jack said in a brief compliment. 

Slowly Jack released Rhys' wrists, and when Rhys made no motion to move them, he took a step back.

Rhys' legs buckled out beneath him, and he started to crumple towards the ground. It was that moment that he realized how strained and overworked the entirety of his body was, spending the entire time trying to fight off Jack. 

Jack reached out and grabbed him by the shoulders, and helped him back up against the wall. "Let's get you cleaned up," Jack said, taking Rhys' arm over his shoulders and guiding him towards the door he'd earlier retreated through. Punching in a code, the door slid open and he guided Rhys inside, door rushing closed as they entered.

Too tired to look around at where they were, he was led forward until he was plopped down on a cold surface. Jack walked a few feet away, returning with cloths in his hands. He wet them at a sink to Rhys' left, and kneeled in front of Rhys. It was then that he noticed the right side of his face and mask around his mouth was covered in blood. His stomach sank at the thought of repercussions for headbutting the CEO of Hyperion. Though technically he hadn't ruled out headbutting... only hitting and kicking.

Reaching forward with the wet towels, Jack wiped at Rhys' port and down his face, then around his ECHO eye. Pulling the cloth away, Rhys was startled to see it stained deeply with red--far more than what was on Jack's face.

"Is that... my blood?"

"Yeah. So funny side effect of the last upgrade is profuse bleeding from the port and eye socket. Forgot to tell you."

That explained it then, why Jack had blood all along the side of his face and around his mouth. From when he decided to bite Rhys on the neck, he would have gotten it all over him.

Jack continued to clean Rhys up, then ordered him to strip his clothes off when the blood was cleaned. Too tired to care about protesting, he just obeyed. Happy that the ordeal was over. He was given a pair of boxes to wear that were slightly too large for him, and sagged on his hips. Barely conscience at this point, he vaguely remembered being ordered and guided into a big bed, where he promptly fell asleep.


	2. I could make you Mine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the delay! Life's been crazy. It's a short chapter, but I'm out of time for now. I'm going to be forcing myself to make time for this story, so don't worry, it's not abandoned. :)

Rhys' eyes cracked open slowly, meeting the sheets his face was shoved into. Turning his head, he squinted at the artificial sunlight that flooded the room. It was a rather minimal living area, with the whole open-floor-plan thing going on that left nearly all sections of the quarters visible, from what he could tell at least. It was the standard arrangement of living quarters on Helios, albeit far larger and more luxurious than the typical employee's quarters.

The bed Rhys occupied was a generous king size covered in a plush yellow and white comforter (as if he expected any other color combo) that had become twisted around his legs while he was passed out. After a session of more effort than it really ought to have been of trying to disentangle himself from the sheets and comforter, he stumbled onto the white shaggy rug that surrounded the bed. 

Pulling the on-loan black boxers back up onto his hips, he took a few steps further into the living area, trying to observe what he could through the pulsing headache at his left temple.

The floor was actually wood, and real as far as he could tell. It was an oddity to find wood flooring in a space station, since it wasn't an easily come-by material when sourcing from trading and supplier space stations. It had been a long time since he'd had the luxury of walking on real wood floors--something that hadn't occurred since he was still a kid living with his parents. Although even then they lived in a space station, his parents were wealthy enough to have had the floors custom made and installed. Being the son of two very highly respected and well-paid scientists had its upsides.

Various white and yellow rugs were dotted throughout the space, and most of the furniture was stainless steel, a dark wood, or a combination thereof. There was a sitting area off to one far side of the quarters, that had a black leather couch, loveseat, and recliner situated around a stainless steel and glass coffee table. The wall by the sitting area was actually a large bank of windows that peered down on Elpis and Pandora, with one of the panes shimmering with the familiar iridescent glint of Chromatic Pixels, a telltale sign that that particular pane was doubled as a display screen.

To the right of the lounge area was a bank of steel and black leather topped bar stools that stood along the side of a bar made of dark wood and black countertop. The kitchen area just on the other side mirrored the dark wood and black countertop, and was arranged around a center island fixed with a large range and excessively large sink.

The walls of the entire living space were bare, save from the pale yellow paint tone, and kept the whole area looking very un-lived in and impersonal. There were a few doors that lead to what he could assume were pantries, closets, and the bathroom right by the main entrance door.

At the foot of the bed was a neatly folded pile of his clothing. For a brief moment, Rhys mused about Jack washing his clothing for him, but tossed the idea out immediately. Jack wouldn't be one for wasting his precious time washing an employee's clothing. Some form of cleaning service was the most likely reason for the freshly washed clothing. Getting dressed, and eying himself in full-length mirror hung beside the bathroom door, he frowned at the still slightly visible signs of blood. Faint, but there.

Rhys walked to the entrance, and punched the open button on the keypad, and the door slid open. He was greeted by the sight of Jack's office, the intimidating size of the space surrounding him and making him feel very small.

The man himself was situated at his desk, pouring over stacks of documents and an ECHO device. Glancing up at the hiss of the door opening and closing, Jack tipped his head towards the sitting area. "Just take a seat over there till I can finish this up," he said, resuming his concentration on the work before him.

Rhys walked the short distance to the couches and sat down on a couch opposite to the one he occupied last night. He eyed the sofa, and felt glad he chose this one. The floor in front of the other had blood speckled and pooled in front of it, now dried a dark burgundy color. He cringed at the memory, and tried looking anywhere but at the sight.

After several minutes Jack walked over and stood near Rhys. Eyeing the mess, Jack's lip quirked in disapproval. "Should have gotten the cleaners in last night."

Eyes flicking back up to Rhys', he looked over Rhys before stepping closer so he stood directly in front of the younger man and leaned in. A shiver went down Rhys' spine but he tried to keep his composure. Jack was decidedly less intimidating today much to his relief, but he kept his guard up incase that changed.

"How ya feeling cupcake?" Jack asked as he raised a hand infront of Rhys' face. "Focus here," he interjected before allowing Rhys the chance to respond, pointing a finger to the open palm of the hand in front of his face.

"Uh," he started, trying to assess how he actually felt while concentrating on the hand now moving in front of his face. It actually proved really difficult. Above all, he was focusing where he was told to, but it seemed to be rendering his brain a little useless. While he recognized that, he wasn't able to articulate that discovery as his eyes fixated on the hand that Jack now had waving across his vision.

Jack's other hand reached up and gripped his jaw, holding his head in place which had also been following the movements, forcing his eyes to make all the movements which now included snapping of his fingers.

It was then that Rhys realized that his augment wasn't feeding data into his artificial sight. He could still SEE, but there was no information on... well... anything at all filling his HUD. In fact, said HUD appeared to be completely frozen. Panic rose in his chest as he broke focus on hand's movements, pushing his back against the back of the seat, he looked around frantically trying to find something that would most definitely cause his Core to report data to his vision. There was no feed.

"Hey!" Jack shouted, shoving himself back into Rhys' personal space by kneeling and leaning forward, grabbing his jaw again and forcing him to face forward. Rhys' eyes focused on Jack's face, just a foot from his own, and tried to squelch his panic. "Use your big boy words. What's going on?"

"The data--no feed. System Core Relay not sending--" Rhys babbled nearly incoherently as his heart pounded in his chest.

Rhys had grown so used to his augment in his daily life that suddenly being without its functionality was terrifying. After everything he went through to get it, and the debt he suffered to get ahead with it, being without it... it was unthinkable. If his augment was now broken and unfixable... he'd never be able to pay off his debt. Jack would have no use for him so he doubted that the erasure of his debt would still apply. He'd be back to his old job, sans the use of his eye's functionality, and sans any money to speak of for the remainder of his life.

"Relax you dummy," Jack started, quirking an eyebrow in amusement at Rhys' display of terror. "We just need to give you a hard restore."

"Hard restore?" Rhys asked, emotions settling down, Jack's calmness somewhat grounding him. If Jack wasn't worried at all, it probably wasn't a big deal, right? "But that's not even a thing, is it?"

Augment technology was completely different from your regular technology. Rhys religiously read the material available on his augment after it was installed and it specifically stated that once it was on, it stayed on and never turned off until the brain lost all functionality. There was no such thing with these devices as resets or restores. They could be Flashed, which just refreshed the system processes back to their last functional state, but that was it. And he's pretty sure that's not what Jack was talking about.

"It is... sort of. It is if you know what you're doing," Jack said offhandedly, fishing in his pocket with the hand he let fall away from Rhys' chin. He pulled out a small screened device with a cord that attached to a dock. "Your old firmware isn't playing nice so we're going to have to uninstall the old for the Angel Interface firmware to take effect and run the show. I'll admit, I was kinda expecting it to go a little smoother, but what'r'ya gonna do."

Rhys flinched, grabbing Jack's arm with both hands as the older man reached to place the dock at Rhys' temple.

"Let go," Jack said darkly, eyes narrowing at Rhys as his flesh hand and robotic hand gripped overly tight on Jack's forearm. Swallowing, Rhys let go, letting his arms fall limp to his sides. Gritting his teeth and clenching his eyes, he let Jack insert the dock into his port, memories of the previous day coming back torrent of remembered pain. "This shouldn't actually hurt at all."

"Shouldn't?"

Opening his eyes, he caught Jack looking at him with a crooked grin that had some dark amusement behind it. "No one's made it past what you went through last night, so truth is I'm not certain it won't. But it shouldn't. Everything we're doing from here on out is software and firmware only. Last night...wasn't."

"So what was last night?"

"Last night was... Hardware adjustments."

"I don't understand," Rhys said looking at Jack with brows furrowed in confusion.

"Your augment was installed with extra hardware that your System Core didn't have the processes installed to control. The installation I did last night gave your System the ability to access that hardware and proceed with the necessary... adjustments. Careful navigation around your brain to the new linking points for the newly accessible hardware was the cause of the pain. And bleeding. You're now all wired up to be compatible with the Angel Interface which is far more intricate, touchy, and demanding bit of technology than what you're used to."

Jack's words wound themselves around Rhys' mind and his current situation was finally making him feel rather uneasy. He was condemning himself to servitude to Jack. Wasn't that what he wanted originally? Originally perhaps he wouldn't have given it a second thought to be Jack's secretary, but this was a whole other level. This was almost a sort of enslavement. What control would Jack literally have over his mind with the installation of the Angel Interface? He's certain Jack wanted a loyal dog, so surely there was something in place to ensure that position of who he installed the AI into. Even if his mind was still his own, would he still have complete free will? There were too many unknown factors to think clearly and make a reasonable decision.

His indecision was rising to panic as Jack turned on the small screened device in his hands.

"I don't know about this," Rhys said just barely above a whisper.

Jack's eyes snapped up to Rhys, face still tilted downward towards the device. "You're not getting cold feet now are you?"

"I--I just need some time to think about this," Rhys stuttered out, reaching up to the dock lodged into his temple, his heart rate rising.

Eyes narrowing, Jack frowned and grabbed Rhys' wrist just before he gripped the dock. "Nah-ah-ah. You don't get to back out now," Jack said, his pitch lowered in a threatening way.

Rhys' breaths grew shorter as his eyes darted from Jack's fist gripping his wrist to Jack's face staring darkly at him. He tried to pull his arm away from the grip, and when that didn't work, he tried to jerk his whole body back and to the side, away from Jack.

"You don't *get* to ruin this for me, you lowlife line-level employee," Jack stated as anger seethed through his words. His eyes were dark and sent a chill through Rhys. Trying once again to pull away, Jack countered the movement by pulling and then letting Rhys stumble backwards. His backside hit and slid down the couch back as he lost balance. Jack jerked him back up off the seat again, and let gravity force him almost fully to the seat of the couch as Jack positioned himself overtop of the smaller man. A quick movement with Jack's left hand on the small device caused Rhys' robotic arm to fall lifeless off the side of the couch, straining his shoulder from the dead weight.

Caught off-guard by the loss of functionality in his arm, Rhys wasn't prepared for Jack gripping his hips and pulling him up onto the other man's lap, inclined from the kneeling position he was in over Rhys. Mind refocusing on what was happening besides with his arm, he watched helplessly as Jack leaned forward, capturing Rhy's wrist which rose to push at Jack's chest. His brain screamed at his robotic arm to move, which would be much stronger and easy to push Jack from him, but it had no effect. It lied limp off the couch's side, still straining the shoulder socket where metal met bone and muscle.

Jack came closer still, his hips wedged between Rhys' legs on either side and pressed against him as Rhys folded slightly beneath Jack. 

"I've played nice so far today," Jack ground out in a tone so low it was nearly a growl. The words ghosted across Rhys' ear, Jack's mouth not and inch from the side of his face. "But I'm now in a position where I have to show you that you've made your choice and that you don't have the power or the option to change it."

All the intimidation Jack demonstrated on Rhys yesterday had returned tenfold as Rhys squirmed helplessly against Jack, trying to free his wrist or squirm his pinned body out from under Jack's. Jack shoved his lower half against Rhys again, further scrunching his body up uncomfortably, and pinning his wrist above his head.

Rhys' face was flushed red with embarrassment, shame, and physical effort as he panted from exertion while Handsome Jack rendered him powerless with far littler effort. Their intimate position did little to keep his cheeks from blushing hotly.

Jack's free hand snaked its way to Rhys' neck, where it gripped tightly, restricting airflow but not outright choking him. Rhys pulled again to free his hand, with still no success.

"I could kill you now," Jack said, tone still low and menacing.

Loosening his grip on his neck, Jack leaned forward slightly more and dipped his head, and bit at Rhys' neck hard enough to make the younger man yelp, before covering the bitten location with his lips, sucking with unexpected tenderness. With the unexpected tenderness in conjunction with how much of a fucked up situation this whole thing was, Rhys didn't expect the jolt of pleasure that went straight to his flaccid cock. Jack rolled his hips against Rhys' this time in a way that wasn't meant to further immobilize him, but enforce an unspoken, yet understood point.

"I could rape you," Jack growled, mouth once again hovering at his ear.

Jack then gently gripped and rubbed the back and side of Rhys' neck and pressed his lips against Rhys' own, rolling his hips again against Rhys'. This time around, he felt Jack semi hard against his own groin. And while Rhys wasn't hard, his dick was trying to give it a good effort despite Rhys' mental resolve against that happening. Jack deepened the kiss when Rhys failed to outright refuse it, and rolled his hips again, making Handsome Jack's growing erection acutely noticeable. Rhys' will wasn't strong enough to keep the arousal he felt away. For a moment he slipped, and accidentally responded to Jack's kisses, if just for a second. Jack's thumb brushed up against the line of Rhys' jaw as his other hand's grip loosened to lightly drag its touch down Rhys' wrist and forearm. 

Stilling his hips and all movement of his hands, Jack pulled away slightly, still looming over Rhys' entirely disheveled body. Half lidded eyes gave way to a cocky smirk on Jack's face, as Rhys could still feel Jack's solid cock pressed against him through the layers of clothing.

"I could make you mine."

He didn't bother trying to escape this time, as he was left lying on the couch, wrist unbound. Jack had made his point.


	3. Bad Coding

Jack stepped away from Rhys entirely, as Rhys lay prone on the couch still trying to process what just happened. Jack's words terrified him to the core, because it was probably all true. Had Jack chosen to do any of those three things, the younger man would have been unable to resist with much success. The most scary part? He didn't put either three past the legendary Handsome Jack, president of Hyperion.

Jack stood over Rhys for a time, watching the man just stare up at the ceiling with a dazed and concerned expression.

So what was wrong with him that he wasn't making a last ditch effort to run for his life? Wasn't the minuscule chance of success worth risking his life rather than quasi-willingly handing his life into Jack's hands?

Despite the fact that he felt truth in those thoughts, he didn't budge.

Finally Jack kneeled back down in front of Rhys' body on the couch and grabbed the screen lying on Rhys' chest. Making a couple of quick gestures on the screen, Rhys' arm flared to life. Jolting up and cradling the robotic attachment, the younger brunet cringed as sensation flooded back to his shoulder socket that had long since fallen asleep. Now the strained muscles protested their awakening from carrying the dead weight swaying off the side of the couch just earlier.

Jack pulled the device closer to himself as he sat back on his haunches. The unfortunately short cord went taught and tugged Rhys' face by his temple port forward in his seat, until he was seated just at the edge of the plush couch. Jack made no motion or comment of forgiveness at the action, and instead continued tapping at the screen in his left palm, eyes focused on what he was doing.

Rhys tried to catch a glimpse of what was happening on the screen, but the angle was wrong. Instead he resigned to sit patiently as he received the silent treatment.

Without warning Rhys' vision was gone from his implant. Not just blackness, gone as if that eye never existed. It was a terrifying sensation to go from sight to nothing. Having always had sight in both his eyes to immediately having sight through his real eye and his augment, though covered with bandages for a week, he'd never experience true blindness. Even if just with one eye.

His robotic arm had also gone limb once again, though supported by his lap rather than hanging loosely at his side. At least this time he was saved most of the strain of the weight pulling his muscles.

He calmed the nerves that made his hands curl up against his pants leg, reassuring himself that he knew that Jack was just initiating the Hard Reset to allow the Angel Interface to take over as the Firmware.

He eyed Jack, watching the man work intently on the device in his hands. A blush stained Rhys' cheeks, remembering the events of yesterday and today and the smattering of semi-sexual to overtly-sexual occurrences. Sexual experiences experienced with Handsome Jack. THE Handsome Jack. A terrifying and thrilling fact.

Did they mean anything? Or were they just a combination of accidents and Jack making a point? Did Jack feel any sort of attraction to Rhys? He'd never heard of the man having sexual exploits with men, only women. There were never any rumors around Helios that Jack was anything other than arrow straight and could bang any chick he wanted. Though those were sometimes followed up with a humorous quip that IF jack were bisexual he could bang any dude he wanted, too.

He pondered, as he watched Jack's face glaring in concentration at the screen, if Jack would make any advances on Rhys as his PA position progressed, or if he would simply capitalize on Rhys' position and use him as a sexual out with no attachments. Despite his undeniable attraction to Jack, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted either of those. He'd seen first now hand how mentally derailed Jack can be. And while he knew to some extent Jack's less than normal mental state prior to the PA thing, experiencing it first hand made it too real. Reality and fantasy were not melding well for Rhys. 

Then again, remembering his arousal and submission when Jack tenderly assaulted him not minutes ago made him doubt his ability to resist. If Jack wanted it, Jack would probably get it.

Vision sprang into life from his left unnatural eye and his robotic arm surged to life in his lap. False muscles seized up, taking away the small amount of tension his real muscles had in holding the mechanism in place at his shoulder.

Data flooded his augmented vision, though his User Interface was still not visible.

Eventually the data slowed, and a UI popped into place where it normally was, though its appearance was different. The UI was of a yellow tone, rather than the blue that came stock with his implant, as well as sporting different icons that were also not ordered how he had become familiar with. 

Most of the same programs were the same, as he inspected each one lining the left side of his HUD, though some were different and were associated with the new firmware and software now installed.

"AI: Hyperion Networks"  
"AI: Mainframe"  
"AI: Guard"  
"AI: CMD"  
and "AI: Admin", were among the new icons that stood out to Rhys upon first look.

Rhys opened AI: Hyperion Networks, and a translucent window spread open in his vision that listed various networks that were always visible from around Helios, but there was also a new one that he'd never seen before: "Hyperion Mainframe".

Accessing that network revealed your typical non-public security logins for the various networks. It requested a Username, Password, Voice Identification, and Security Check. He fed in his typical Hyperion details, and imported a recording that was still dumped on his drives of his voice authentication. He also activated a standalone security check sniffer executable that was alongside the voice authentication file. As the program ran, it attached itself to the various other networks and scrounged for loose data to interpret what the login required for the security check.

The windows closed altogether and he caught Handsome Jack looking at him, quirking an eyebrow.

"Naughty little Rhysie, using sniffers," Jack chastised like one might a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

Rhys blushed and looked away. That at least confirmed that Jack could see what was going on in his UI from the little screen attached through his port. He'd be more careful when Jack had that device in his hands.

"What was your plan if the sniffer managed to discover the security check? Your login would be flagged immediately. Hell, you'd be instantly fired. So what was your plan?" Jack inquired, looking genuinely curious.

"I dunno," Rhys responded dumbly.

Jack went back to the device in his hands for a moment before he slowly looked back up at Rhys with an amused grin forming on his lips.

"You little shit," Jack started, eyes darting back to the device as he made a few more quick gestures.

Involuntarily, up on his display popped a window. The previously encrypted file 'Vasquez' now laid bare with the sensitive Hyperion Employee information clearly visible as the file opened, along with the 'Login Shuffler' executable icon obvious beside the file.

"Aren't you just full of surprises?" Jack asked rhetorically. Then a wicked grin overcame Jack's features, as he half stood up and leaned in personal-space-invadingly close. Rhys cowered back against the couch, eyeing Jack warily. He gripped Rhys chin in a none too gentle manner. "But you should know better than to lie to your boss, kid. I'm sure you're aware that I don't like my inferiors lying to me or being insolent?"

Rhys nodded hastily, his breath not coming easily. This whole situation was so fucked up. It was throwing Rhys off his normal Hyperion Employee stride--he absolutely knew better than to lie to Jack, even if in such a minor way as playing dumb about his hacks. Little shit like that earned bullet holes through skulls, feet, or kneecaps.

Yesterday he'd been so cautious to tiptoe around Handsome Jack's reputation for being volatile. So what had changed today that he so casually lied to the man's face?

"There's a good boy," Jack said letting go of his chin and patting his cheek before pulling away. He stood up from his crouch, stepped back, and sat in the opposing couch. Reclining leisurely with his arms stretched up and hands clasped behind his head, he frowned. Rhys swallowed with difficulty.

"Now come here," Jack said, his face neutral.

Rhys stood from the couch, grabbing the screen that hung by a cord from his port and took a step towards Jack.

"Ah-ah-ah! You crawl," the older man said.

Suddenly the situation went from... debatably normal, to indeterminable. Rhys wasn't sure if this was meant to be purely submissive punishment for his lying, or if Handsome Jack intended for this to result in something sexual. Jack's unpredictability thwarted Rhys attempt to determine the situation. Even if Jack intended for Rhys to crawl up to him and pleasure him orally, Rhys couldn't say no... and he sure as hell couldn't ask if that was the intention. How dumb would that make him sound? 'Sir, are you wanting me to pleasure you with my mouth?'

He had no choice but to just deal with whatever Jack made him do once he reached the man. And he cursed himself for the subtle tinge of arousal he felt, imagining the latter scenario.

"Well?" Jack asked impatiently at Rhys prolonged hesitation.

Casting his eyes to the floor, he slowly knelt down and began crawling towards the man, refusing to look any higher than the man's feet. As Rhys neared, Jack widened his legs, making it clear where he wanted Rhys. Glancing up, he saw Jack watching him, though still with an unreadable expression. Rhys blushed hotly in embarrassment, and looked away once more. He couldn't believe he was doing this.

Crawling the last little distance, he sat up between Jack's legs, and stared at his boss' chest instead of anywhere else. His cheeks were still stained red and burning hot. He could even feel his blush in the tips of his ears.

Jack outstretched one of his hands towards Rhys, and made a 'give me' motion. Rhys fumbled for a second, and placed the device still tethered to him into the open palm.

"Well aren't you just adorable when you blush," Handsome Jack said, in a strange compliment. It just served to make the receding blush return in full-force.

Suddenly Jack tugged the device roughly towards himself to bring it to where he could comfortably hold and see it from his lounged position. The short cord pulled Rhys with it, so he was hovering over Jack slightly. Pulled off balance, Rhys struggled to not stumble. With nowhere else to go, and needed to help with his balance, Rhys' hands hovered over Jack's upper thighs, but refused to touch.

As Jack began using the device, Rhys' calves and thighs began to burn from the strange position of being slightly too far leaned forward but not being braced on anything, in Rhys' refusal to touch Jack. He maintained the position for a short while, but eventually his legs threatened to cramp and he had no choice but to give in. He leaned forward, effectively bracing his stomach against Jack's crotch and planted his hands on Jack's thighs. 

Expecting to be yelled at, he instead got a short glance from Jack, who cocked an eyebrow, then continued to go about his tinkering.

Unnerved, Rhys tried to break the tension he felt with conversation that he half expected Jack to either not respond to at all, or tell him to shut up. "So how many other people... erm... 'failed' integrating with the Angel Interface?"

Ignored it is, Rhys decided as silence filled a span of time after his question.

"One too many," Jack finally said in a quiet tone, that was almost... sorrowful? Since when did Jack care about the people he killed? Maybe there was more to this man than Rhys realized. Rhys didn't think it possible that this man would feel guilt over the lives lost over his gain, but that tone was unmistakable.

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking... Why don't you integrate with the AI yourself?"

Jack gave Rhys a crooked smile. "Remember all those deaths? Yeah I'm not taking that risk. I'm a tad bit too important to risk dying on the operation table.

"But one division of my science department is developing an actual Artificial Intellegence replica of myself. They're also working on a true body clone of myself that can implement with both the Artificial version of my brain and the Angel Interface. If all goes to plan, I'll have a perfect replica of myself that will have complete control over Helios and all of Hyperion's operations."

Rhys took a moment to really think about that. For all that he had been made to go through, and surely had yet to go through, he was now being told he'd likely be replaced. For all this thoughts earlier about this whole ordeal not being worth it... now it truly felt like a waste of his life. What had he done?

As Jack worked, he could see information on what was being done back-end flash across his view. As his work progressed, Rhys found himself most awkwardly being aroused. The strange thing about it was that the cause wasn't his position kneeling between Jack's thighs and their proximity. It also wasn't any of Rhys' own thoughts, as he kept those successfully at bay. Instead, it seemed that when Jack did anything significant with his system, that he felt a twinge of arousal. 

Eventually every little thing that Jack changed with his systems, or accessed, mounted his arousal slowly. At this point, every change sent a small jolt of pleasure straight to his cock, that now tented the front of his pants. Rhys was extremely thankful that his crotch was out of sight. 

"There. I've logged you into the network," Jack said, pulling the device and cord into the air, and like a leash forced Rhys to stand up and step back, as Jack stood with him. Unfortunately Rhys didn't step back in time to avoid Jack's body pressed against his for a brief moment as the older man didn't wait for Rhys to make room. During that brief moment, he felt Jack's body pressed against his, including his boner.

He stumbled back a step and held is breath, hoping that Jack didn't notice. Jack's eyes narrowed for a split second at Rhys, before he looked down between the two of them almost comically. Undoubtedly he saw the bulge there that Rhys tried to will away.

"Huh," was all Jack said. Rhys' stomach dropped.

"I--it's not what you think," Rhys stammered, cheeks flushing as he held his hands up defensively.

"You mean that isn't a boner in your pants?" Jack asked with a laughing scoff.

"I mean--it is--but--it wasn't there because of why you think," Rhys tried to expel that ruin of a sentence as he flustered even more. "Whenever you'd do something through the connection, it..."

"....It turned you on?" Jack finished off Rhys' unfinished sentence. Eyebrows raised as he watched Rhys flush hotly in embarrassment. "Hm."

Jack brought the screen back in front of him, and began working at it again. Each time he did something on it, and Rhys saw the information pop up in his vision, he saw Jack look up at him in observation. 

Rhys had to bite back a moan as Jack made completely random changes, only to change them back again. Deleting large files just to restore them again. The larger the modification the more impactful the arousal. While he was able to bite back a moan, he was unable to keep himself from biting his lip in his efforts.

Gradually a mischievous smile crept its way to Jack's lips as he watched the effects of his changes on Rhys' face.

"Looks like we have an unforeseen effect of my programming," Jack said, a smirk on his face. "That's considered bad coding."

Handsome Jack stepped towards Rhys, closing the space between them. With his right hand he gripped the dock where it protruded from Rhys left temple at his port, impeding the immediate attempt he made to step back from Jack's advance. Involuntarily he made a light sound in fear in his throat, as Jack stared at him with a predatory gaze. 

Stuck in place, he yelped as Jack's other hand found its way between them and gripped his hardon. His yelp turned into a strained sound as he mentally wrestled with his combination of fear and arousal. This time he couldn't deny that the arousal he felt wasn't because of the connection. This time it was simply because: Jack.

Jack let out an almost purr of a sound as he felt Rhys' cock jump in his hand at the touch. He made light movements with his hand, grip still firm on Rhys, that cause Rhys to moan aloud.

Half of Rhys wanted to go die in a corner of embarrassment for enjoying it so much, and being unable to control the sounds he was making. The other half wanted so badly for Jack to keep doing what he was doing.

In the back of his mind he knew that he was signing himself over to Jack, once and for all as 'Okay For Sexual Use'. He knew he was screwing himself over--but at the same time wanted nothing more than for Jack to screw him.

"Looks like we've got a little problem with the hardware we've got to fix, too," Jack said lowly, mouth close to Rhys' ear. Jack squeezed his hand a little bit to emphasize his point. The words and ghosting of hot air against his ear and the pleasure of the pressure caused Rhys to stiffen, making a choked sound in his throat.

Keeping Rhys' lower half in place by his cock, Jack forced Rhys' head back by his port, exposing his neck. Leaning down, Jack started lightly nipping at the hot flesh while continuing his ministrations below.

"Jesus," Rhys ground out, coming undone.

"Nah, wrong name," Jack said against his neck, and biting considerably harder at the flesh, enough to send a good amount of pain signals to Rhys brain and snap him back to reality a little bit.

"Jack!" Rhys shouted in shock. That would leave a nice little bruise. He tried to push Jack back, but Jack both pulled at Rhys' port and gripped his dick harder.

"That's right," Jack cooed, resuming his more sensual attention to the other man's neck. Before long he had Rhys rutting up against Jack's hand.

Rhys started nearing the edge, which caused him to come back to reality again, as he tried to stifle Jack's movements. "Jack stop, I'm gonna--"

Jack grunted at Rhys trying to impede him and instead resumed with vigor.

"Jack I'm--" Rhys tried, but his words fell short in his haze.

Just as he was about to cum, Jack let go of Rhys' cock and instead pressed his body against him, his own erection humping against Rhys' through their layers of clothing. Hitting the brink, Rhys groaned loudly, as he started cumming. Just as he started, Jack let go of his port and instead gripped the back of Rhys neck. Leaning back up from his neck, Jack kissed Rhys forcefully and passionately. Waves cascaded over Rhys as he dry humped Jack in his final throes of pleasure, cum shooting out into his underwear.

Handsome Jack finally let go of Rhys when the augmented man's erection waned. Rhys fell away from Jack, dazed and drained. He stumbled back and collapsed on the couch, a complete mess.

Jack stood, still in front of him, grinning with no small amount of self satisfaction present on his features. "My turn."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I don't have a beta. I've never had one for writing, but if I'm going to continue I guess I should see if anyone's interested in being a beta for future chapters, to try to improve my quality control. If someone's interested, send me a PM. :)

**Author's Note:**

> I don't have a lot of freetime, but I do try to make time for writing. So while posting chapters could be only a day between, they could also end up being a month between--as happened with Chapter 1 and 2. If I don't post a chapter in a timely manner, it's not abandoned, I'm just having difficulty finding time. :)


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